CCNP Innovations in Neuropsychopharmacology Award
Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience – September 19, 2024
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Psychedelics are profoundly reshaping mental health treatment, offering a novel psychiatric framework. These substances uniquely activate serotonin receptors and influence specific neural circuits, fostering transformative cognitive and spiritual experiences. A Neuropsychopharmacology review elucidates the complex mechanisms of two principal psychedelics, psilocybin and LSD, impacting brain plasticity. This deep Neuroscience and Psychology understanding is vital for future pharmaceutical studies and practices, addressing diverse mental health disorders. Such insights could even extend to conditions like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, integrating brain, mind, and spirituality.
Abstract
For 3000 years, psychedelics have been used in religious contexts to enhance spiritual thinking, well-being, and a sense of community. In the last few years, a renaissance in the use of psychedelic drugs for mental disorders has occurred in Western society; consequently, a pressing scientific need to elucidate the intricate mechanisms underlying their actions has arisen. Psychedelics mainly bind to serotonin (5-HT) receptors, particularly 5-HT 2A receptors, but may also bind to other receptors. Unlike conventional psychotropic drugs used in psychiatry, psychedelics introduce a distinctive complexity. They not only engage in receptor activation, but also exert influence over specific neural circuits, thereby facilitating transformative cognitive experiences and fostering what many have identified as a spiritual contemplation or mystical experience. This comprehensive review describes clinical studies that have examined the propensity of psychedelics to enhance spiritual, mystical, and transcendent cognitive states. This multifaceted nature, encompassing diverse components and paradigms, necessitates careful consideration during the investigation of psychedelic mechanisms of action to avoid oversimplification. The present review endeavours to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the actions of 2 principal psychedelic substances, psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), with a focus on monoamine and glutamate receptor mechanisms; molecular aspects, such as neuroplasticity and epigenetics; as well as the impact of psychedelics on brain circuits, including the default mode network and the cortico–striato–thalamo–cortical network. Given their distinctive and intricate mechanisms of action, psychedelics necessitate a novel conceptual framework in psychiatry, offering insight into the treatment of mental health disorders and facilitating the integration of the realms of brain, mind, and spirituality.